Package openable by tearing



sept 14,' 1943 1 .'sALF1sBERG 2,329,360

PACKAGE OPENABLE BY TEARING Filed Nov. 29, 1941 Patented Sept. 14, 1943PACKAGE OPENABLE BY TEARING Leroy L. Salfisberg, South Orange, N. J.,assigner V `to Ivers-Lee Company, Newark, N. J., a corporation ofDelaware Application November 29, 1941, Serial No. 420,931

2 Claims.

This invention relates in general to packages of the type that comprisessuperposed layers of packaging material that form between them acommodity-containing compartment which is openable by tearing of thelayers of packaging material inwardly from one edge of the package tothe compartment.

More particularly, the invention contemplates such a package wherein atleast o-ne margin of the commodity-containing compartment is formed by asealing fiange in which the edge portions of the layers of packagingmaterial are scaled together and which is to be torn transverselyinwardly from its edge to said compartment for opening the package; andespecially the invention is directed to a package of this characterformed of material which it is difficult to start tearing from an edge,particularly from the edge of the sealed flange.

There are several materialsof this general nature, one of which isPliolm which is a rubber halide. An attempt to tear a sheet of"Pliof-llm inwardly from the edge results in a stretching of the sheetand it is almost impossible manually to start a tear; and this isespecially true where it is attempted to tear through the edge of twolayers of Plioiilm that have been fused together to form a sealingflange for a package.

Packages of this general character are highly desirable and are Widelyused inmodern packaging, especially of pharmaceutical products such astablets, powders and pastes, and accordingly one object of my inventionis to provide a package of this character that shall embody a novel andimproved structure to facilitate opening of the package by tearing ofthe packaging material.

Another object is te provide such a package wherein the sealing flangeshall comprise a novel construction and combination of zones wherein thelayers of material are sealed together and other zones wherein saidlayers are unsealed, whereby opening of the package by tearing shall befacilitated and at the same time a secure closing and sealing f thecommodity-containing pocket shall be ensured.

Other objects, advantages and results of the combination will appearfrom the following description in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of package embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged transversely vertical sectional view on thelinev 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View showing the mannerof opening the package.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, thepackage is shown as comprising two layers or sheets A and B of packagingmaterial of the general character above described, for example Pliolm,said sheets or layers being arranged in superposed relation to eachother and forming between them a commodity-containing compartment C.

If desired the layers A and B may be formed of a single sheet ofmaterial folded upon itself, but as shown, the two layers initially areseparate from each other.

At least one margin of the commodity-containing compartment C is formedby a sealing flange in which the edge portions of the layers A and B aresealed together and the package is to be opened by tearing the layers Aand B through said sealing flange.

As shown, the commodity-containing compartment C is bounded, or allmargins thereof are formed, by a sealing flange D wherein the sheets Aand B are fused or adhesively secured together at their abutting facesas at l and preferably interdigitated or corrugated as at 2.

T0 facilitate opening of the package the layers A and B are unsealed atone or more zones 3 which lead inwardly from the corresponding edges ofthe package to points spaced from the corresponding margins of thecompartment C, these unsealed zones 3 being surrounded, except at theedges of the package, by the sealed zones of the ange. In each unsealedzone 3 is a slit or notch 4 which extends through al1 of the layers Aand B inwardly from the edges -0f the layers and terminates short of theinner end of the corresponding zone.

The zones 3 constitute .tear-initiating zones and preferably are of avisually different character from the sealed zones of the flange D, sothat the tear-initiating zones can be easily and quickly visuallyidentified. As shown, this visual contrast is produced by the roughenedsurfaces of the sealed zones and the smooth surfaces of thetear-initiating zones.

In opening the package, the flange is gripped at opposite sides of theslit 4 of one of the tearinitiating zones so as to tear the layers'ofmaterial in said zones in continuity with the slit as shown in Figure 4.The slit makes it relatively the tearing action is continued into andthrough the sealed zone between the inner end of the unsealed zone andthe corresponding margin oi' the compartment C. and then transversely ofthe compartment so as to open the latter. The initiating of tearingaction in the unsealed zones facilitates the tearing of the layersthrough the sealed zones in an unexpected manner which is in sharpcontrast to simply forming a slit or notch in the edge of a sealed zoneof the ange D.

Where the package is formedof Plioiilm, the layers are fused togetherunder heat and pressure to form the sealing zones but the tearinitiatingzones are -unheated and unpressed. The heating and pressing of the"Plioil1m to form the sealing :Bange changes the character of thematerial so that it is\practically impossible to tear through the sealedzones of the layers even when a slit or notch is iirst cut in the edgeof said zone, but where the tear is started in the tear-initiatingzcne'3, the tear may be relatively easily continued through the sealedzone into the compartment. Accordingly there appears to be an action andresult where the tearing through the sealed zone constitutes acontinuation of a tear through the unsealed zone, that is different fromthe action and result incident to starting a tear through the sealedzone from a notch or slit.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention maybe embodied in many different shapes and types of packages and packagesformed of different materials, and also that the form and location ofthe tear-initiating zones may be modified and changed as may bedesirable in different types of packages, all without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A package comprising superposed layers of packaging material which itis diillcult to start tearing from an edge, said layers forming betweenthem a commodity-containing compartment one margin of which is formed bya sealing flange in which the edge portions of said layers of packagingmaterial are sealed together and interdigitated and which is to be torntransversely inwardly from the edge to said compartment but is morediiilcult to tear than the unsealed portions of said layers, there beinga tear-initiating zone in said sealing flange leading inwardly from saidedge to a point spaced from said compartment in which said layers aresmooth and unsealed, and said zone having a slit extendingv through allof said layers inwardly from said edge and terminating short of theinner end of said zone, where- 2. A package as described in claim 1wherein said layers of packaging material are Pliolm and are sealedunder heat and pressure, and said unsealed tear-initiating zone of saidlayers has been unheated.

LEROY L. SALFISBERG.

